Our View: Clearing sidewalks shouldn't require a law

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Journal Star

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Posted Jan. 13, 2014 at 7:20 PM

Posted Jan. 13, 2014 at 7:20 PM

By and large central Illinoisans, and not just those who live in Peoria, do a lousy job of clearing their sidewalks following a snowfall. The result is that pedestrians, including schoolchildren, have to take to the street, which is a nuisance for motorists as well as a potential safety issue for those pedestrians on a slick roadway.

Although much of the snow that fell on central Illinois last week has already melted, it's an issue Peoria's City Hall may take up. As always, some folks think there ought to be a law mandating that sidewalks be cleared, others believe that would be just another example of government overreach.

On the one hand, more property owners and businesses should clear their sidewalks simply because it's the right thing to do. Certainly businesses make the effort to clear their parking lots because they have a self-interest, including a financial one, to make life as easy on their customers and employees as they can. But not everybody has personal transportation; some folks have to take a bus and/or walk some distance. It's dangerous for them to be in the roadway, carrying groceries or backpacks or whatever, particularly a busy one.

On the other hand, pragmatically it's difficult if not impossible to keep up if snowplows repeatedly bury you back in, especially if the sidewalk abuts the curb and a couple feet or more of the white stuff has piled up. It's one thing if you have a snowblower — we trust most locals do not — another if you have to get out and shovel multiple times. We don't want to see local emergency rooms filled with heart attack victims, either.

Beyond that, is the city really going to fine residents who are physically unable to clear their own sidewalks, such as the elderly or disabled, or those in low-income neighborhoods who can't afford to have someone do it for them? We trust that would prove about as popular as ticketing someone $100 for shoveling a bit of snow from his driveway into the street, as Peoria police did to a homeowner recently. That was silly — a warning would have been sufficient — especially when you consider that no small amount of the snow at the end of driveways, on sidewalks and in yards and blocking mailboxes was put there by city plows in the first place.

In any case, what we do not need more of are laws that are not enforced, or enforced unequally and unfairly, even if cities don't mind having such in their back pockets. Beyond that, potentially there are legal liability issues that can cut both ways, with sidewalks something of a mix of public/private property.

By all means, it's worth the city's time to research this and see what other communities do. In the meantime, if everybody was more courteous, reasonable and neighborly, we wouldn't need a law. That would be the preferred route.